Have a site you love to sell on? Let us know and we might feature you in an upcoming post!

Shopify

Esther Freedman, owner of cuteheads, has been selling on Shopify since 2012.

Q: Tell Us about Your Brand:A: Cuteheads™ was born out of a need for modern, stylish separates and whimsical, handmade styles that are parent-approved and let kids be kids. Cuteheads™ is not for the mass-produced-loving shopper; it's for the mama with discerning taste, the discoverer of new things, the lover of handmade quality. We aim to fill your life with comfort and style, while making it easy to get your kids dressed in the morning. All cuteheads™ clothing is made in a sweatshop-free environment, features original work by Esther, and is 100% safe to be worn by your child.

Q: Why Do You Love Selling on Shopify?A: I love Shopify for a number of reasons. It's user-friendly, very customizable, and its capabilities are robust. For instance, you can put a single product or category on sale. There are also thousands of apps that plug into Shopify, making everything from shipping to SEO easy.

Q: Pros/Cons of This Site:A: The pros are mentioned above. Unlike some of the other platforms, you can make your site completely your own. The downside is, you either need to have some programming skills, or the means to hire someone to build out your site. They do offer templates you can use, if you don't want a white label solution.

Q: Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on Shopify?A. There is a monthly fee for businesses.

Storenvy

Q: Tell Us about Your Brand: A: I have been making Mon-stors and monster toys since October, 2009. What started out as simply dreaming up the design of a monster that "ate" toys as a storage solution for my son when we were in a cramped living situation has grown into an bustling business with hundreds of monsters being made each year!

Lu & Ed products are totally eco-friendly, handmade in Kansas City with textile discards. Each Mon-stor is made from up-cycled fabrics either purchased from thrift stores or salvaged from donated clothing and fabrics. Scraps from large Mon-stors are used to make smaller Mon-stors, and scraps from those are used to make stuffed monsters, Gadget Mon-stors and totes. And the itty bitty scraps left over from those is diced up and blended with poly-fil - meaning there is absolutely no landfill waste from the production of Lu & Ed products.

Q. Why Do You Love Selling on Storenvy?A. My most favorite thing about Storenvy.com is the complete, total control you have over your custom shop - for free! Unlike other sites, you don't have tiered price points for customization.

You can fully customize your Storenvy shop - beyond just the colors & logo - to really take ownership of it & make it look & operate like a stand-alone website. You can embed blogs, photo galleries, videos, sizing charts, look-books & wholesale catalogs and more with a little knowledge of HTML. You can also have Storenvy host your domain for $5 a month & drop the vanity URL of their site for an added dose of professionalism.

By being able to customize my storefront, I have been able to build an easily recognizable brand with a highly engaged audience. But not only do I get the functionality of a free-standing website (at NO cost), I also can opt in to the Marketplace feature of Storenvy.com, where people from all over the world can browse items from Storenvy sellers which is added exposure for my products & brand!

Q. Pros/Cons of This Site:A: Pros:Free custom store builder.Up to 500 product listings - for free. There is no listing or selling fees!Did I mention it is totally free to use?Back end marketplace that you can opt in or out of if you don't want to pay marketplace fees.Lots of opt-in extras, like Super Discounts that allow you to use BOGO, % off, $ off or free shipping or ShippingEasy, that offers discounts on postage.You can also opt-in to Box Truck for digital order fulfillment.

Cons:10% Marketplace fee (BUT you can opt out of this fee & being listed in the marketplace)Slightly less known than the current top selling sites (but rapidly growing!)No mobile app (but one is in the works)Not handmade only: any indie business can launch on Storenvy .This can be both a pro and con. Pro, because 1) you don't have to use the marketplace, so this won't even affect you if you don't & 2) it means a more diverse audience of people finding your goods who may not have ever thought to look search for "handmade *insert what you sell*".Con because it means that there are lower priced like items that are mass produced in the marketplace.

Q: Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?A: No application process, and all items are allowed except for the usual no nos - body parts, 18+ items, weapons, etc.

Artful Home

Q: Tell Us about Your Brand:A: Avolie Glass is a man and woman team, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are both glass artists in their own right, having exhibited their sculptural work at places such as the The Oakland Museum of California, National Liberty Museum, San Jose City Hall, and the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design. They also share a personal relationship, and after years of creating their individual work, found themselves wanting a separate outlet for their spontaneous side. Soon the idea of working as a team to reinterpret the classics in functional glass art emerged.

Avolie Glass was born, allowing them to unite in a venture driven by creativity, enthusiasm, love, and the artistic process. The word Avolie (AV-olie), comes from the Italian term Avolio. An avolio is the bit of glass used to join the cup and stem when making a hand blown goblet. They use this symbolism, to express the joining of two, in their creative journey.

Q. Why Do You Love Selling on Artful Home?A. Very professional staff, easy to work with, attentive to any changes needed, and payments are made on time.

We were excited to be a part of Artful Home's Fall Preview Catalog, which went out to almost 300,000 households. Having an online platform that actually invests in PRINT material for their subscriber base is valuable and unique. They have been very supportive of our work, and made a special effort to integrate us, as new artists, into their site. Their staff is extremely helpful and always available for questions, which made getting started even easier.

When we receive reorders from them, it is always within the initial parameters we set for lead time, ship time, etc. This reliability builds a positive relationship and makes production in larger quantities possible, which allows us to grow our business!

Q: Pros/Cons of This Site:A: I can't think of any cons for this site. Pros would be the national exposure of a very well-branded company that stays true to its brand over time. Sellers know what to expect and are not put through constant changes. If gives us an opportunity to reach customers that may not see our work in a gallery setting. They also allow for one-of-a-kind works, for those that have unique items that cannot be reproduced in multiples.

Q: Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?A: There is an application process and the jury meets a few times per year. There is also an annual fee to sell on their site, and they have various product categories including: glass, ceramics, fiber, metal, fashion, and jewelry.

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